Cure
by Arathelightningqueen
Summary: After the events of Into the Nexus, Talwyn is more alone than ever and sets out with Ratchet and Clank to find her dad. When Ratchet's ship crashes on an unknown planet, he is injured and becomes very sick. It's up to Clank, Talwyn and Angela to find a cure before he becomes worse.
1. Crash Landing

This is is my first Ratchet and Clank fanfiction, I've tried to keep it as accurate as possible, if anything seems out of place just think of it as an AU. I'll try to update this once a week. Enjoy :)

* * *

"Out of fuel? How could we be outta fuel?"

"There seems to be an abnormal amount of liquid being drained from the fuel tank. Perhaps we damaged it somehow."

"Wait are you trying to tell me we have a leak?"

"It would seem that way."

Ratchet sighed. This certainly hadn't been one of their easiest trips. There were barely any spots to stop and get supplies in the Nyyla galaxy. It was so different to all the other places they had been to. It was almost as if no one else flew ships around here.

"Trust everything to go wrong on a long important trip..." Ratchet muttered as he leaned forward to flick a switch, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Hopefully the autopilot still works. I'm gonna go check something out. I'll be back in a minute."

"Are you sure you do not require my assistance?"

"You stay here in case something else happens. I'll be back in time to land this piece of junk." Ratchet assured him, before disappearing through the door to the back of the ship.

They had been given a new ship yet again, by Talwyn. It was just to borrow while they searched for her dad, because they needed something bigger. Something with more room. In this ship there was somewhere to sleep, there was a bathroom, and there were cupboards with supplies. Not much at all compared with a lot of ships Ratchet had been in, but it covered the basic necessities for a very long trip.

There was also a hatch that when opened up, revealed a decent amount of the ships works. Ratchet walked over to the hatch and yanked it open with his Omniwrench. All the important things they needed to be able to land safely seemed to be in order, there was nothing malfunctioning, nothing wrong and no damage. Ratchet wondered why the fuel would be leaking because they hadn't hit anything, but everything else was working, so that was all he needed to know for now. He slammed the hatch shut again and started to get up.

Suddenly the ship jerked roughly and Ratchet almost lost his balance. It sounded like they'd entered an atmosphere. Clank must have gotten impatient and started steering them himself. If they passed the planet they would be out of fuel and have nowhere to land. It wasn't a problem, Ratchet just needed to get back to the cockpit.

Balancing as best he could, Ratchet made his way to the door that separates the drivers section and the living quarters. He pulled the lever to open it, but it didn't work. There was only one lever in this rickety old ship that could open the door from this side and it wasn't functioning.

The turbulence began to roughen as they grew nearer to the surface of the planet, but Ratchet couldn't see how close they were. He hoped Clank was doing okay at the controls. But he would definitely get hurt if he couldn't strap himself in. He tried again to pry the door open but it was locked.

The turbulence was bad, and Ratchet noticed a lot of cupboard doors and things coming loose.

"Stupid autolock sequence!" Frustrated, the Lombax pounded on it with his wrench and called out. "Clank, open the door?!" But it was too loud and too late.

Suddenly the ship started to plummet and Ratchet yelled out as the momentum caused him to be thrown against the back of the ship.

He and a number of other things smashed through the back window. He felt the old broken glass drawing blood as it sliced through his skin. Ratchet screamed though no one could hear, as he went flying through the air and the young Lombax cried out once more as he came to a bone shattering stop on the pavement outside.

Ratchet gasped and coughed in an attempt to restore air to his winded lungs. He had landed on his back and there was terrible pain shooting through his spine. He groaned loudly as he tried to move but everything hurt too much. He was aware of a decent amount of blood draining from a few different areas of his body and his wrench laying next to him.

Eventually his vision started to fade, he saw the ship speeding along the ground away from him. Slowly, his eyes slid shut and he had no choice but to allow the dark haze of unconsciousness to settle over him.

* * *

To her, this was the most important mission she would ever embark upon. Talwyn Apogee was on a mission to find her dad. And she would find him this time. She knows he's still out there. He's strong! He's smart and adventurous and reliable. People keep telling her she has to let go, but now that Cronk and Zephyr were gone, she needed him more than ever.

She wouldn't have really been too sure what she should've been feeling right now if it weren't for Ratchet and Clank. Not only were they there for her, supporting her, but they had come along on this mission with her to help her find her dad! Ratchet believed her when she said her dad was still alive. To her that was a friend. Someone who would stick with her no matter what.

In fact that was them over the com link just now.

"Miss Apogee." Came Clanks robotic voice over the radio.

"Yeah Clank?" She replied.

"We have a slight issue. We appear to have sprung a leak in the fuel tank and will need to perform an emergency landing on the nearest planet immediately. You may proceed without us. We will catch up just as soon as we have found the problem."

"What? I'll come with you. Be careful you guys!"

"If you wish Miss Apogee."

"Yes I do." Talwyn said quietly to herself. Right now, Ratchet and Clank were all she had. They were her dearest friends and she wasn't going to ditch them for this.

Their ship she noticed was veering toward a light blue and grey patched planet with dots of red and green. She couldn't learn the name of it because they were unable to find any sort of map to this galaxy, so she just hoped for the best and followed after her friends.

Ratchet and Clank seemed to be doing okay at first, but after a little while they started to plummet. They were speeding towards the ground so fast she wondered if they had any control. She had to stop herself from yelling over the com link. She knew they needed to concentrate. She just wanted them to be alright but there was nothing useful she could do. As she continued to follow them toward the surface of the planet she only grew increasingly worried. She realised they were about to crash land right in the middle of a city.

She watched on in horror as the ship slammed forcefully into the ground right in the middle of the road, things were flying out the back window of the ship. Pedestrians and common vehicles were all running and swerving to avoid being involved in such a crash.

The ship was traveling at such a speed that it kept going along the road for a short while until finally coming to a stop.

Talwyn was just about to follow the ship to where it had stopped when she noticed a group of life forms gathering around the spot where all the things that smashed through the window had landed.

For a second she wondered why so many pedestrians were gathering around one thing, but didn't give it a second thought. She needed to reach her friends to make sure they were okay.

Hastily, she landed her ship in the middle of the road not far from her friends ship. She struggled with her seatbelt, in a hurry to get it off before rushing out the door.

"Ratchet! Clank!?" She called out as she ran toward the wreckage.

She reached the door of the cockpit and saw Clank at the wheel looking shaken but okay. He was strapped in his seat well, but where on this new blue planet was Ratchet?

"Clank what happened? Are you alright? Where is Ratchet?!" Talwyn yanked the door to the cockpit open and blurted out all her questions.

"We ran out of fuel..." Clank started shakily. "Ratchet is in the back room. He went to check on something."

Talwyn climbed past Clank and went over to the door. She pulled the lever, the door slid open and she gasped. The room was a complete mess! All the food they had stored up had come out of the cupboards and was everywhere. Most of the cupboard doors had come loose and disappeared, and some whole compartments were missing. But worst of all, Ratchet wasn't here.

"Ratchet?" Clank came up beside her calling his friends name but was as shocked as Talwyn to find nothing.

"Oh no!" Talwyn gasped and with that she ran straight back out the door toward the place she had seen people gathering before, and Clank followed suit.

The Markazian and the Warbot dashed over to the place Talwyn suspected her friend was, pushing their way through the gathered crowd until finally stopping once they reached the middle. Talwyn gasped again, her hands shot over her mouth and her big green eyes went wide, for there as suspected, injured and unconscious lay Ratchet, bleeding and in his sleep struggling to breathe.

"Quick! He needs something-" Talwyn shouted. "Nanotech! Does anyone have any Nanotech?!"

"I will retrieve some from the ship Miss Apogee." Clank offered, and ran back off to the ship. The little robot reentered the messy back room and searched the cupboards and scoured the floor finding plenty of Nanotech, but the protective glass was broken, and every time he tried to pick it up the semi intelligent healing technology targeted him as a patient and soaked into him and it was wasted.

Talwyn kneeled next to Ratchet, her mind racing. She had never ever seen him like this. He was unconscious and yet it seemed he couldn't lay still. It was like he was trying so hard to relieve himself of the pain he was feeling, but he couldn't. It broke her heart.

She was worried he'd hit his head, it was a little hard to tell where he was hurt because there was blood everywhere. "Ratchet wake up." She said shaking him just a little. He moaned as he stirred and his eyes began to ease open.

"Ratchet! Are you okay?"

He focused but he looked like he was having a bit of a hard time doing so. He shook his head a little in regard of her question. "No I... My back..."

"That's what hurts?" Talwyn asked.

"And everything else..." Ratchet groaned.

Clank came back but he had no Nanotech with him and Talwyn started to panic. "Check my ship clank, I might have some in- she was interrupted by the sound of a blaring siren. A large vehicle rushed toward the scene and the purple, green and blue aliens stepped back to let it through.

"What's happening?" Ratchet asked unable to turn his head to see.

Talwyn didn't know how to answer.

A few paramedics rushed out of the vehicle, dragging a stretcher out with them, being instructed what to do in a different language.

Everyone except Talwyn and Clank were standing right back, giving the paramedics some space. Talwyn was worried about Ratchet, and wanted to make sure these aliens didn't do anything wrong.

The aliens stepped forward right away, and Ratchet groaned loudly and his breaths became rapid as they began to lift him onto a stretcher. Talwyn pressed her palm again her forehead in worry and looked away, unable to bear seeing the Lombaxes features twisted in agony as he loudly groaned again.

Clank walked up and stood beside her and it was a little comforting. But they still didn't know where they were, or what they were doing to him.

"What are you doing with him?" She attempted to ask one of the creatures but it didn't understand. "Where are you taking my friend?"

"Chisa respica eeta din anki rari uc en." It replied.

"I don't know what you're saying..."

"Tairan aminga lat. Nulii oringa yo paece lat da ymori cainshsiin nite din aminga ves tuc ubori. Nulii oringa yo ub din anki pacnac, a chisa lat cii ain uc tori. Ij kenulii ta eeta din den."

"I can't understand you!" Talwyn cried.

The aliens turned away from her and wheeled the stretcher into the back of their vehicle.

Talwyn panicked. She didn't trust these aliens! She didn't know what they were doing with Ratchet. She couldn't even ask them! He was hurt so bad but she couldn't do anything for him.

She saw Clank follow the paramedics into the back of the van and decided to do the same. It was cramped but they let her stay. They quickly closed the door and started driving away. The paramedics were rushing about, expertly hooking Ratchet up to three separate IV drips while they were moving.

Talwyn winced at the thought of him having so many sharp objects sticking into his arms, but supposed it was for the best. Why wouldn't they just use nanotech though? That heals most wounds and would certainly help Ratchet right now, but she couldn't ask them about it so she just stood there and tried to keep balanced as they drove off to the hospital.


	2. Hospital

Talwyn sat in the waiting room and waited... Clank was with her. Ratchet was behind the door to her right.

The aliens had forced them here when she tried to follow them. She had shouted at them wanting to be let in the room they had taken Ratchet, because she didn't trust them! Why would she? But the physicians had forced her out, shouting right back at her. It was about then that Clank had finally located the language in his data banks and was able to speak with them to find out what they were doing.

He spoke with them, and they told him they had hooked his friend up to three separate IV drips containing different tonics called Speed, Sleep and Cleanse. When asked about Nanotech they were very confused and assured Clank that while they didn't know of that, their own: 'put to sleep, cleanse of infection and speed the healing' method would certainly have him on his feet again in a short time.

They also mentioned that they called an a Strange Species Anatomy Expert (or SSAE) and he was going to come over to make sure they didn't give Ratchet anything he was allergic to. They had apparently had a strange species come into a hospital one time because she had been made sick by a food, and this SSAE fellow had spent time with her to document all the things poisonous to her. They were both going to come to help if they could.

So Talwyn and Clank were waiting either for the physicians to be finished bandaging and cleaning Ratchet or for these people to turn up, and with nothing to do but worry.

"What are they doing to him in there.." Talwyn moaned worriedly.

"The physicians have hooked him up to three-"

"I know that Clank!" Talwyn shouted. "I know, but what I mean is I don't trust them. They could be hurting him!"

"I have spoken with them Miss Apogee, and found them to be quite trustworthy."

"Well I don't trust them! I mean I'm worried... About Ratchet... I just... I've never seen him hurt like that before..." Talwyn brought her feet up to rest on the chair she was sitting on and hugged her knees.

"I have confidence that he will get better soon. But I am worried too.." Clank admits.

Talwyn said nothing though her mind was racing in circles.

Soon there was a bit of commotion as a dark blue man in a long white coat came in, looking important compared with the loose, light blue clothes everyone else in the hospital was wearing. It must have been the Strange Species Anatomy Expert that was coming to look at Ratchet. He was talking with the head of the physician team in that other language.

The man in the coat turned to look at Talwyn and Clank, and approached them directly. Talwyn wasn't really sure where this was going until he said something. "Hello."

"Oh you speak English!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, there are a few of us who do, but not in the smaller cities such as this one."

Talwyn had thought this city looked huge...

"It is nice to meet you." Clank piped up holding his hand out to shake.

The SSAE shook Clank's hand gently. "It's my pleasure Mr?"

"Clank."

"Clank, very good." He smiled.

"While I am waiting for the physicians to be done bandaging up your friend, I thought it'd be an idea to come and talk to you. What is your name?" He asks turning to Tal.

"Talwyn." She answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Talwyn. People here call me 'the SSAE' but you two may call me Tine. I have a few questions regarding your friend I need to ask you if you don't mind."

"If it'll help, then definitely." Talwyn replied.

"Thank you, firstly what's the patients name?"

"His names Ratchet."

"Ratchet, very good thank you. I somewhat detest calling people patients, strange as it sounds. Ratchet will certainly sound much better. Another question if I may, much more important. What species is the patient?"

That was a little tricky. What were the chances he'd ever heard of a Lombax? Talwyn was considering her answer when she heard a woman's voice over near the door, there appeared to be a lady trying to get into the waiting room but there were nurses in the way. Just as she was emerging she tripped over her own feet and let out a little yelp.

"There's my assistant now." Tine smiled.

Talwyn stared at her open mouthed as the woman picked herself up, muttering things and walked over to them. She couldn't believe her eyes. Before her stumbling about dressed in blue and white was another Lombax!

"Hello, sorry I'm a little late." The woman said shuffling her clipboards around under her left arm so her right one was free. "My names Angela Cross." She said as she smiled and held out her hand for Talwyn to shake.

Talwyn took her hand and replied simply. "Talwyn."

"That's a nice name. So-

"It is very nice to see you again Miss Cross." Clank said.

Angela jumped not believing the voice she'd just heard. "Clank?!"

"In the flesh. Or rather, the metal. Hehehehehehe"

"It is you Clank!" Angela exclaimed literally picking him up and hugging him. "Oh my gosh I've missed you guys so much! Where's Ratchet?"

"I am afraid Miss Cross that we would not be here if he wasn't in that room."

Angela gasped. "Oh no!"

"I am sure he will be alright. He normally recovers well and quickly in situations like this."

"No I mean, oh no!" Angela put Clank down and rushed over to the door to the room Ratchet was in.

"Um Angela, the physicians aren't quite done in there yet-" the SSAE Tine said as he tried to get her to wait before going in.

"Out of my way!" She said as she opened the door. She went into the room and worriedly Tine, Talwyn and Clank all followed her in.

Talwyn gasped when she caught a glimpse of Ratchet. He was asleep but Tal could see that he looked worse.

Tine also gasped in realisation. "He's a Lombax!"

"-disconnect him-" Angela commanded in the other language, and Tine repeated it so the physicians would obey.

The physicians were confused and refused to do what she commanded.

"-Disconnect him from the Speed tonic now or he could die!-" Angela shouted and they got to work disconnecting one of the drips and removing a syringe from Ratchet's arm.

"What's going on?!" Talwyn demanded as Angela and Tine continued frantically giving out orders, pointing at things when the physicians looked confused.

"It- it would appear they are worried one of the tonics will be harmful to Lombaxes..." Clank roughly translated.

"So they're taking the drip out?"

"Yes..." Clank said as he tried to keep up with everything that was going on.

Angela suddenly turned to Talwyn. "You should leave." She instructed.

"Are you joking?" Talwyn scoffed. "No way! At least not until someone tells me what's wrong!"

"I will come and explain everything to you shortly, but I really need to talk to the doctors first and we need some space."

"But-" Talwyn was getting really ticked off not being able to do anything but sit in that awful horrid waiting room worrying.

Clank gently reached up and took her hand, leading her slowly out of the room.

Talwyn looked at him shocked and almost pulled away but something stopped her. Maybe it was Clank's gentleness, maybe it was the seriousness of the feel in the room or maybe she knew deep down it would help Ratchet. So she left the the physicians to their work and exited the room with Clank.

* * *

"First let me properly introduce myself. I'm Angela, a friend of Ratchet's and Clank's. We met in the Bogon Galaxy during a notable Protopet crisis I can tell you about later.

A lot of things happened after that, things I really need to talk to Ratchet about. I ended up in this Galaxy with no maps, there were no places to stop and I had no idea where I was.

Eventually, not unlike you I ran out of fuel and needed to land somewhere. That's how I ended up here. I landed in a country town and the locals realised immediately I was an outsider and gave me a place to stay. They are so generous but there was one thing they couldn't give me, and it was fuel powerful enough to run a ship. I couldn't leave. They were curious about me and we spent time together though we couldn't understand each other's languages. It wasn't long before I started picking it up though, and when they realised I was learning they started to seriously teach me.

After I learned the language I officially decided to make a home here. I got a job as a shop assistant and payed for the place I was given to stay.

One day when I was cooking I cut myself on a kitchen knife deep, so I drove myself to the hospital.

So as you already know, the mandatory procedure for healing anyone of anything on this planet is to give them a continuous dose of the tonics Speed, Cleanse and Sleep, separately through three IV drips until they get better. I suppose it's not so uncomfortable for the natives as it is for us because I wouldn't have been as keen to get to the hospital if I had known about that.

They were a little concerned about me being a different species, so the head physician took the time to ask me if there was anything I was allergic to- anything at all on this planet I could react differently to: medication, food, materiel, anything at all. Having lived on the planet for some time now, I was able to tell him that I was allergic to a few foods including Breesh- a type of pink fish I had caught fishing once. It wasn't an abnormal reaction, it was just poisonous. I had taken it home and eaten some, but it hadn't tasted good at all so I didn't eat very much. It had made me quite sick, but it wore off fairly quickly, I just stayed home, threw it all up and waited until it passed.

As it turned out, a main component to one of the medications they were giving me was Breesh extract. Such a commonly used thing it is. Thankfully I had only been hooked up for ten or so minutes which was not even enough time for the sleeping tonic to kick in, so the doctors quickly disconnected me from the Speed Healing medication and let me heal with the help of Sleep and Cleanse.

After that it wasn't long until Tine the Strange Species Anatomy Expert found out about me. He visited me after I got better, and requested that he be allowed to document me: all the things that were and were not poisonous to me. I became his assistant in his studies and insuring different species don't end up in bad situations like that."

Talwyn and Clank nodded in understanding as Angela finished her story.

"So Ratchet has been poisoned..." Talwyn started. "He's been poisoned by the tonic that was meant to help him..."

"That's right." Angela said sadly.

"But the other two are good for him, so all you have to do is take the bad one out and leave the two helpful ones in. The Cleanse one will get rid of the poison and with the Sleep one he won't even have to be awake until he gets better." Talwyn said excitedly, but Angela still had a grim look on her face.

"I'm sorry Talwyn, the Cleanse tonic can get rid of infection and boost the immune system, but it can't get rid of a poison injected directly into the blood stream, and he has far too much in him now to be able to fight it off."

"What are the physicians doing with him now?" Asked Clank.

"Well... I don't really know how to tell you this, but they are preparing him for a BPP..."

Talwyn opened her mouth and Angela continued before she could ask.

"BPP stands for Blood Purification Process, it's where –ahem excuse me- it's where we uh, the professionals hook him up to a machine that..." Angela paused and the expression on her face was really unsettling. "A machine that purifies the blood by pumping it out of your body, filtering everything else out and sending it back."

"That sounds dangerous." Clank said.

"I'll say!" Talwyn exclaimed a little angrily. "We're not doing that. We'll just heal him the regular way, it doesn't matter how long it takes I just want him to be okay."

"It is dangerous... But there is no other way, the physicians are getting him ready right now..." Angela said.

"No wait, don't do that! We just..." Talwyn swallowed. "We just need to get back to Polaris, grab some Nanotech and give it to him. Cured!"

"I am sorry Miss Talwyn, it was a good idea. Ratchet has used Nanotech on himself many times before when he was sick, but it has not once provided him with any sort of relief. I'm afraid this might be the only solution."

"But- No. You can't do that to him!" She couldn't let them do that, surely there had to be a less dangerous less painful option for him.

"Talwyn..." Angela started. "These people are good at what they do. I trust them with my life. They'll just hook him up to the machine and it'll be done in no time. We can't leave him sick like this, you've seen him. I know what it's like, it's very unpleasant and I got off easy. They've done this before, I'm sure everything will be fine." She placed a reassuring hand on Talwyn's slumped shoulder and smiled lightly.

"Have you even asked him?!" Talwyn questioned as she brushed Angela's hand off.

"He's still knocked out from Sleep tonic." Angela replied stepping back.

"Well maybe you should think about your decision!" Tal shouted back. "If it's dangerous or life threatening or painful, you should ask the one who actually has to suffer whether he wants it or not."

"I care about him too Talwyn, he's my friend. It's not even my choice, these hospitals always do what's best. They have to choose the option that will save the patient."

"Can we at least talk to him before you do this?"

"No, you can't. It would take too long for the Sleep tonic to wear off, and he needs the treatment now. Please Talwyn try to see reason, this is the only way."

Clank steps forward to ease Tal's concerns. "If I may, Angela is someone we know and trust. She is also the same species as Ratchet therefore the most knowledgeable on their kind. I believe she will make the best decision. Even if I do not like it either."

Talwyn sat down in a chair defeated and anxious.

"It's not going to be a walk in the park, but I believe he can pull through." Angela said before leaving back through the door to get ready to take Ratchet into the BPP room.

After a short time she came back out with the doctors who were moving the stretcher Ratchet was lying on toward the BPP room. Angela followed and Talwyn noticed Ratchet didn't have anything sticking into his arms anymore.

Talwyn took one last glimpse at the poor Lombax as he was taken away again, and after waving a short goodbye to Angela, she shamelessly grabbed ahold of Clank's hand for comfort and resumed her waiting with him.


	3. What Ratchet Needs

He felt pain. He felt tired but it was wearing off. He felt something strange sticking out of his body, he could hear a machine clicking and whirring, people rushing about and talking in a foreign language. He remembered being in a crash, seeing Clank, seeing Talwyn, but not much else. He felt sick, his back and head hurt.

Was he in a lab? Was he being tested on? Ratchets heart leaped in fear. Was he going to have to fight his way out? There were pipes in him and he felt very tired...

Someone was coming near. He turned his head slightly to see. It was not a doctor bot, it was Angela. How could that be? He hadn't seen or heard from her in years.

"Try to sleep longer." She instructed him. "You need to rest and this is going to take a while."

Ratchet tried to look around him, to move. He had to find out what was going on, he couldn't do it. He must be dreaming... He closed his heavy eyelids and slept once more.

* * *

Clank and Talwyn sat up expectantly as Angela came out of the BPP room looking quite exhausted.

Angela ignored them and walked out into the hall and through another door, and Clank and Tal waited patiently for her to come back. Shortly, she returned with two cups of drink and she handed one to Talwyn who nodded in thanks.

Angela dragged a chair around so she could sit and face her and Clank as she spoke to them.

"How is everything going?" Clank inquired.

"The BPP is going alright..." She started slowly. "It's going to take a long time but it's working. We've extracted almost five hundred millilitres of foreign substance from his blood so far, the only worry is that includes the tonics Sleep and Cleanse as well. When we started he was asleep but the more we get done the more of the sleep inducing liquid is cleared away and the more alert he becomes. He's woken up once already but I think he's genuinely tired as well, hopefully it's enough to keep him out of it."

"Why can't he be awake? Isn't there anything else you can give him to make him sleep?" Talwyn asked.

"It's not that he can't be awake, but purifying the blood is a very delicate operation and he needs to stay very still. I'm worried that might be hard for him because it's also quite painful... On any other planet the hospitals might use gasses or tablets to send people to sleep, but we only have liquids and machines serving in this hospital. There's nothing that can help."

Clank nodded in understanding. "He can be fidgety at the best of times. Just tell him to keep still, and assure him we are here waiting for him.""I will." Angela nodded.

"How are you feeling Miss Cross?" Clank asked. "Are you doing alright?"

"...I'm a little frightened..." She admitted. "Because his blood's slowly being filtered through a big machine, it takes a while to get done because the machine needs to correctly separate the blood from any other kind of liquid, which... As you know it's dangerous and scary. If the machine isn't set properly, if someone makes any kind of mistake, it could leave too much poison in or take to much blood out."

Talwyn sat there looking a little pale faced, but Clank asked for a reason.

"We truly appreciate all you and the other physicians are doing for Ratchet. I am confident that you are doing your best and that he will pull through as he always does." Clank smiled putting aside his own worried feelings.

"Thanks Clank. I'm sure he'll be alright too. He's holding strong." Angela smiled back at Clank and sipped at the rest of her drink.

* * *

When was it going to stop? It felt like he was being drained of something and filled at the same time. His heart was pumping like a jackhammer, his blood was rushing, he could feel it. It felt like he had been awake for ages and he was still in that dark room, just laying there listening to the beeping and clicking and loud obnoxious whirring of the big machine. Lights of all different colours shone off of everything.

There were still people rushing around, messing with the buttons and switches and dials, one was sitting at a desk with a pen and another was running back and forth keeping an eye on everything, reporting all things back to the one at the desk.

Ratchet's cuts stung, his back ached, he had a migraine... He wasn't allowed to move. He could feel something happening to him and he didn't know what. He was becoming more and more awake, feeling and seeing and hearing more. Everything was getting worse. Tears were sliding down either side of his face in a constant flow and he couldn't do anything about it. He still didn't know what was happening or where he was. He only had an idea based off a memory and he really hated to think of it. If he seriously was in a lab being tested on, there was nothing he could do about it. It really scared him.

The only thing keeping him sane right now was Angela: she would come and talk to him every time he started thinking he couldn't take any more. But maybe that was just an affirmation that he had gone insane.

"-This isn't working-."

"-Is there too much tonic left in his blood or too much blood being taken out with it?-."

"-There's still tonic in there and the machine has been set wrong. It's starting to take blood out and leave tonic in, we need to stop right now.-"

They were shouting in that language again. They were acting more frantic than usual. Lights flicked off and sounds changed from whirring to beeping.

'Just don't move, wait a little longer, it would be over soon, he would get to see Clank and Talwyn when it was done, they were waiting for him, he was going to be alright, just trust her... Trust Angela...'

* * *

Talwyn sighed in relief as she saw them moving Ratchet back into the other room. She couldn't really tell if he was looking better or not but she was sure he would be alright soon. This was Ratchet after all.

Suddenly Angela and Tine came bursting out of the room. They appeared to be aggressively debating something but Talwyn could not understand.

"What are they saying Clank?" She whispered to the robot.

"I do not know. They are going too fast for my level of experience."

Talwyn was getting fed up with this language, not knowing what was going on. She was fed up with waiting too, and not being able to talk to anyone but Clank and Angela. She was supposed to be looking for (and finding) her dad right now, not waiting for someone to come and let her know if Ratchet was going to live or not! Maybe she shouldn't have let them come... Or just given them a better ship! Called a mechanic and waited to see if it was still functioning properly at least. Even if she had just asked Ratchet to check it properly, given him some tools and some time and not been so impatient that would've been better. Maybe-

"Are you alright Miss Apogee?" Clank's calm caring voice interrupted her corruptive thoughts.

"Um- yeah I'm just thinking Clank."

"Thinking about what?" Clank stood up on his chair and studied her face. "Your facial features were contorted in an abnormally tight fashion indicating negative thoughts?"

"Yeah I'm worried." Tal smiled a bit.

"Me too." Clank sighed as he dropped back into a slightly hunched sitting position on the edge of his chair. "I should not have let him out of his seat. I should have known he would not be able to make it back to the cockpit before we needed to land, and I should have calculated that there was not enough fuel in the tank for us to land safely." The little robot said as he hung his head.

"No Clank, don't you think for one second that it was your fault. I should have given you guys a better ship or at least checked if it needed repairs. This whole thing was my idea."

Clank was silent as he thought for a minute, and Talwyn put her head in her hands thinking he had nothing reassuring left to say. "You could never have predicted any of this." He suddenly said. "None of us could have. The important thing is that we have faith that he will be okay."

Talwyn looked up and smiled again. "Thanks Clank. You're right, we just need to-

"Guys!" Angela interrupted as she ran over to them. "If you're not busy we need your help."

"Why do you need our help?" Talwyn asked unsure.

"Because the BPP didn't work... We failed to extract the poison. Ratchet is dying..."

Clank and Tal were speechless.

"We need someone who knows how Lombax anatomy works. Tine is going into the room to inspect him now but we really don't know enough, and we can't figure out what to do by looking at him from the outside."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?! He's still sick?!" Talwyn yelled.

Angela nodded. "I really hate saying this to you guys, but we don't know what to do. We can't get the poison out of him and he can't fight it on his own. We need a Cure."

Talwyn breathed hard in shock and Clank's optics appeared to widen as his little metallic hands lifted up to cover his mouth.

The three sat in silence, just taking the information to heart. Waiting for more news or an idea of what to do.

After a while the door opened again and Time came out of the room holding a clipboard and looking defeated. "We did everything we could. There's nothing more we can do..." He said slowly. "I'm sorry... You can go in now." With that he turned and walked away silently vowing that he would not let anything like this happen again.

Talwyn and Clank got up off their chairs feeling like they had been sat down all day. With Angela following closely behind them they entered Ratchet's room.

Ratchet lay on the bed, finally free from cords and pipes and medical equipment. He was awake. He turned his head slowly and smiled to greet Clank and Tal.

"Hello Ratchet." Clank said walking up to his bed and climbing up on a chair so he could see. "How are you feeling?"

"Nice to see you Clank." The Lombax replied.

Talwyn stepped a little closer to the bed surprised at how fragile he looked. "How are you feeling Ratchet?"

"Uh Tal, it's not a pretty word. You don't wanna hear it and I don't wanna say it."

He looked really tired and slightly pained but fairly relieved and calm, but... so fragile... It was breaking Talwyn's heart. "You look tired..."

"I am tired."

"You should go back to sleep Ratchet." Clank said.

"Are you kidding? After all that, waiting to get out of that room to come see you guys... You think I would-" Ratchet was cut off by his own yawn. "I would go to sleep so soon?" He was fighting it.

"I hope you understand Ratchet, but I will not stand for this kind of behaviour when you are this sick. Go to sleep." Clank commanded.

Ratchet looked to Tal and she nodded in agreement as much as she had wanted to see him, but the Lombax remained stubborn.

"I can't sleep anyway... You know, no ones really told me what was happening in that room I was in..." Ratchet somewhat groaned, and Talwyn was surprised at the look on his face as he said that. He looked almost worried and scared.

"It is alright Ratchet, these people are trained doctors here to help you." Clank assured knowing full and well what he was worried about. His friend had had a very bad experience similar to this once a long time ago but hospitals and doctors wielding sharp objects still freaked him out.

"Is there something you guys aren't telling me?" Talwyn asked a little upset and very worried.

"I am afraid that subject is too sensitive to tell of for the moment Miss Talwyn, please just try to help sooth him."

"I don't need soothing Clank, I just want to know what's- what's going on..." Ratchet stuttered a bit.

"I can answer that, he needs to know." Angela offered stepping forward so Ratchet could see her.

"Angela?" He questioned sounding confused.

"Yes Ratchet, don't you remember I was in the room with you?" Angela asked shocked.

"No I remember I just, I thought maybe... I was going mad? I don't know, I haven't seen you in ages."

"I'm sorry you felt like that and that we had to meet again under these circumstances. What you just went through is called a BPP or a Blood Purification Process. When the doctors hooked you up to the IV tonics in the ambulance one of them poisoned you but they didn't know. That was an attempt to get the poison out but we failed..."

"I heard that it failed, I just didn't know what is was that failed. At least now I know I'm not gonna die."

Angela looked at Clank, Clank looked at Talwyn and Talwyn looked at Angela. They exchanged uncomfortable looks trying to decide whether or not they should tell him yet or who should be the one to do it, but by the time they looked back at Ratchet, he was asleep. They had some time to think.

"What do we do, we can't let him die!" Talwyn was starting to panic as the predicament sunk in.

"You must not panic Miss Talwyn, if we wish to save him we must keep level heads."

"He doesn't even know yet... When he wakes up we have to tell him..."

"Talwyn would you just stop?!" Angela shouted. "We just need to think. We don't know where to start looking for a Cure, so maybe we need to find someone who does. I'm having Tine call all the other experts he knows."

"Don't yell at me. I'm not panicking." Talwyn defended.

The door to the room creaked open and Tine stepped into the room. "Has he woken up since?" He asked.

"No he hasn't." Angela replied. "How's the research going?"

"None of them know what a Lombax is... My suggestion is that you take him back to Polaris, there could be someone there who knows more than us in the Nyyla Galaxy."

"Gee that's a foolproof plan..." Tal muttered sarcastically.

"What was that Talwyn?" Angela asked.

"There were only two Lombax experts in Polaris, one was me, the other was the reason we were out here in the first place."

"You're a Lombax expert?"

"Yeah I'm better with history than anatomy in case you couldn't tell."

"Please miss Talwyn, try to stay calm. Is there anything else we need to know Mr Tine?" Clank asked turning to the SSAE.

"I'm afraid not. I am very sorry to say that there is nothing more I can do for you. I have no access to vital information and know no one else who could help..." He stood there looking very guilty and unsure of what to say.

"Thank you for all you have done Mr Tine. Even if it did not go well we appreciate the assistance greatly." Clank reassured him with a heavy heart. He knew that he couldn't lose Ratchet and he was very very worried. He wouldn't know what to do if the Lombax died and it looked like that's where things were headed... But he needed to stay positive and logical. It was important the doctor knew it wasn't his fault.

Tine smiled a little nodding his thanks, before reluctantly exiting the room.

"Now what..?" Tal asked.

"I don't... If only..." Angela trailed off.

"If only what?" Clank asked her.

"If only we could find the rest of our race... The Lombaxes would know how to help."

Talwyn stared at her with a little confusion and shock.

Clank thought for a minute. There was something he could do... He wasn't quite sure of it but maybe it was worth a shot. "...Perhaps I have something that could help." Clank said slowly and he opened up his front compartment and pulled out a broken mess of a Dimensionator.

Talwyn gasped. "Where!?" Was all she was able to get out.

"Where did you get that!?" Angela finished for her.

"I picked it up after Miss Prog used it to summon the Nethers. Ratchet gave up on trying to fix it, but something told me that it still had a use..."

"That's incredible! But if Ratchet couldn't fix it then... Wait, my dad. He could fix it, he was an expert on Lombax technology! We just need to find him."

"Your dad?! How do you guys even know what this is?" Angela asked a little shocked.

"Yes my dad, Max Apogee. He disappeared a long time ago but we're searching for him, and now he may be our only chance to find a cure. And I know what this is because I'm a Lombax expert remember."

"Your dad was Max Apogee?! I know where to find him!" Angela just about shouted.

"You do?! How could you know?"

"Yes I do I- but we need that to find him..." She pointed, down heartedly at the device in Clank's hands.

"He's in another dimension!?"

"Yes, all this has given me an idea though, I think I know someone else who might be able to help."

"Someone else? Okay I don't know about Clank but this is way too many unanswered questions for me. You need to tell us what's going on right now!"

Their voices almost woke Ratchet, he groaned and stirred in his bed.

Angela walked over to him and scratched his ears very gently, trying to get him to go back into a deeper sleep. "...He feels hot." She said.

"Is he getting worse already?" Clank asked concerned.

Angela nodded. "He'll never get better on his own. We need to make a decision."

"We should go and see this person you were talking about." Clank said.

"Alright what do you reckon Tal, is it best of we take him with us or leave him here?"

Talwyn took a moment to process the information and the question. "He would be more comfortable here but I don't think it will do him any real good if we leave without him... Can this person you know really help?"

"I don't know for sure but he's our only lead." Angela replied.

"Alright then, we'll take him. If he's only going to get worse here..."

"Good point. I'll prepare him for the trip. Talwyn, you go get the ship ready and Clank, you can download the coordinates to the planet Lecorm. We'll set out as soon as he's ready."

* * *

Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews! Sorry about the mistakes, I'm a little busy to go back and try to find them at this moment but thanks for pointing it out. I can't reply to your reviews but I still want you to know they're appreciated.


	4. Travel

"I have the flight coordinates Miss Cross." Clank declared as he entered the back of the ship.

"Great, if you could just upload those to the ships built in navigating system that would be super." Angela was getting Ratchet a place ready to rest for while they were moving. They had woken him up so he could walk out to the ship and he had been uncharacteristically slow on his way out, but it was no surprise really. He was standing behind her, up against the wall and was almost out of it again, he was having a hard time trying to stay awake.

"Sorry there's not much room in here Ratchet." Talwyn apologised. She wished they could have taken the bigger ship- the one Ratchet and Clank crashed but obviously that wasn't really an option. This ship was only meant to carry two people in the cockpit, and only had one bed in the back. One bed was all they needed right now anyway. Tal and Angela had sleeping bags packed.

Ratchet didn't reply to Talwyn's comment, he was focused on staying upright, leaning against the wall until the bed was ready.

Angela finished making the bed and stepped back to allow space. "There, done. You can lie down now Ratchet."

The Lombax stood up from the wall and walked unsteadily towards the bed. He wondered how he could possibly be this tired?! Angela had said surgery just takes all the energy out of you. She had apologised a few times for wanting him to make the trip so soon after the BPP but he felt like he was supposed to be stronger than that anyway.

"Thanks..." He muttered as he lay down, his eyelids involuntarily closing down over his eyes as he did so. He shuffled around a little, trying to stay off his wounds before dropping right off.

"Asleep before his head hit the pillow." Angela muttered to herself feeling guilty for making him walk all the way out to the ship right after a BPP.

"We should get moving." Talwyn suggested watching Ratchet in a concerned manner from her place at the end of the bed.

"Right, we should..."

Angela and Talwyn made their way into the cockpit and strapped themselves into their two seats. Talwyn flicked a switch, warming up the ship to get it ready to fly.

"Where are you going to go Clank?" Angela asked as she turned to face the little robot who was currently without a seat.

"If you no longer require my assistance, I believe I will head into the back room to watch over Ratchet."

"I think we're all set Clank." She smiled. "You're good to go."

Clank nodded in thanks and disappeared through the door.

The rumbling of the ships engine became a little louder as Talwyn began to take off. Angela drew her attention to the sudden momentum, almost having forgotten what it was like to be inside a moving spacecraft. It had been so long...

The ship rose slowly into the air and eventually out of the atmosphere. Angela looked out the side window admiring the view, but as she watched the planet slowly shrink out of sight, she felt a bit strange leaving after being there for so long. She knew she would miss it soon, and be regretting not saying goodbye to anyone but Tine before she left. It was strange feeling nothing but knowing it would eventually sink in.

Talwyn checked the navigation system to insure she was going the right way. They would have to make the jump to light speed to get anywhere near the planet Lecorm, but of course doing such a thing was a precise operation. Should she lean even a few metres too far in any direction it could dramatically alter which place they ended up in. "Get ready." She warned when she finally felt she'd gotten it right.

Angela braced herself, and without a seconds more warning, the ship jumped to an alarming speed. She felt almost like she was going to vomit for a second but it faded after they slowed down a bit. They had only been traveling at light speed for about ten seconds, what was wrong? Lecorm wasn't in the same solar system as them.

"Talwyn..?"

"Asteroid field up ahead. A bad one." The Markazian answered in a frustrated tone.

"Are we going to go around it?"

Talwyn leaned forward and fiddled with the built in navigator, frowning as she did so. "I don't think there is a way around... Not one that won't take at least a few days to bypass..."

"You're kidding right?"

"I'm not happy either, we take the three day route or we go through."

"Maybe we should play this safe..." Angela suggested. "If we crash or damage the ship it could be the end of us all the way out here." The inhabitants of iiculum the planet they came from didn't fly ships, if they got stranded it would take forever for someone to reach them.

A three day detour seemed a little unpleasant to Talwyn. Having a sick injured Lombax in the back was a pretty good reason she felt, for wanting to take the shortcut. They didn't have a lot of supplies with them due to lack of room, and she didn't feel like starving her friends or going hungry herself either. "I'm an experienced pilot." She started.

Angela grimaced but she didn't say anything.

"We don't have enough food on board to be taking the long way around. It's still a fair way to Lecorm after this and I don't want to take the chance on running out of supplies because we haven't come across a single rest stop in this galaxy.

"I understand that. Maybe we should have just stocked the ship until we couldn't move..." Angela studied the screen of the navigation system, and pointed at is as she spoke again. "This is a class four asteroid field, five being the worst there is. Are you really sure you can handle that?"

"I've navigated asteroid fields before and survived..." Talwyn bit her lip, a little unsure about taking on a class four but there really was no other option. "This could get pretty rough but she's a tough old ship this one. I'm just gonna go for it." She decided, continuing to fly towards it. It was almost too late to safely turn around. "Hold on tight."

Clank was in the back room of the ship watching over Ratchet as promised. The Lombax was lying flat on his back in bed, fast asleep, and Clank had some time to think.

The worry was starting to sink in more. He had never seen his friend in such a state... When he was injured in the past he had always just cracked open a box of Nanotech and recovered. In the back of his mind he was always worried Ratchet would get sick somehow and they would have to search far and wide for someone who could heal him. He had never imagined it happening like this.

What if he kept getting worse? What if they couldn't find a Cure? What if this person they were going to see wasn't there, couldn't help them or just outright refused? Ratchet could die, and while Clank was (mostly) used to the impulsive Lombax risking his life, getting into all kinds of danger, this was really different. He was strong enough to battle enemies but not this sickness. He was relying on them this time, he couldn't do it on his own, he needed them and if they didn't help him he wouldn't get better.

These thoughts weren't helping any– they were scaring him in fact! But this was the only chance he had had to let the info properly set in, and he supposed it had to happen.

Suddenly a huge jolt rang through the ships outer shell, rattling everything inside. Clank who had been standing up, was knocked to the floor. He quickly picked himself up but the ship jerked again and he went down for a second time.

He heard Ratchet shift and groan from his bed and became concerned. What was going on?

Preparing himself, the robot got up again balancing himself properly this time as the ship continued to knock him about. He made his way slowly into the cockpit to ask what was happening, and was met with the sight of thousands of asteroids out the front window ahead of them.

He saw Talwyn was working hard at the steering to keep them safe, though the asteroids were thick.

"What is going on?" Clank asked worriedly while he struggled to keep his balance as the ship rocked, swayed and jerked around. Talwyn ignored him, much too preoccupied to look away.

It was Angela who turned to face him looking a little shaken. "We're in an asteroid field, we couldn't go around." She said. "Is everything okay back there Clank?"

"I believe so... What happened?"

"This is a class four asteroid field... The jolts were caused by Talwyn clipping the ships wing." Angela replied.

"Hey I'm doing my best!" The Markazian retorted sounding agitated.

"Are you quite sure you can handle this?" Clank asked worried.

"I don't know!" Tal shouted back. "Listen just go back to Ratchet and make sure he's doing alright with this. I'll handle the flying." She didn't like yelling at Clank but she needed to concentrate. The asteroids seemed to be getting thicker...

Angela signalled for Clank to go back to his own tasks and try not to worry, so the little robot retreated back through the door to the back.

As he made his way back over to Ratchet, Clank realised he was no longer asleep. His eyes were shut tight, but he was leaning to the side with most of his weight on his right arm. He had his forehead pressed up against the arm he was leaning on, his face was scrunched up and he appeared to be panting. "Are you alright?" He asked but he received no reply.

"Ratchet are you awake?"

The young Lombax lifted his head slightly and opened his eyes, he didn't look at Clank but kept his focus on his arm while he tried to calm his rapid breathing down a bit.

What's wrong?? Clank wondered as he rushed closer to his friend.

"Clank..." He started. "Could you get me a bucket..?"

Clank suddenly realised the motion must have been affecting him badly as he was sick. Had Angela thought to bring a bucket? Clank quickly rushed over to the cupboards to find out. Just as he opened the door however, the ship turned almost all the way to the side and the contents of the cupboard tipped out and crushed him.

At the same time, Ratchet was starting to sweat, and had felt his mouth fill up with saliva he was unable to swallow. Knowing what was going to happen, he attempted to get up to find a more convenient spot but it was too late. His body heaved and his stomach felt like it was ringing itself out for it was near empty. He gagged at the taste of bile while his stomach continued to squeeze itself out in a frustratingly painful manner.

Finally after that, it was over. Ratchet lay back on his pillow with his arm over his forehead, still feeling dizzy and with a headache, panting and just wishing that he wasn't sick.

The ship finally turned upright again and Clank was able to pull himself out from underneath the supplies that had fallen on top of him. At least he had found an empty container for Ratchet.

Clank hurried back over to the bed with the plastic container and saw Ratchet laying on his back with his eyes closed. Then he saw the bile beside him and realised he was too late.

"I am sorry Ratchet..." The robot sighed in his typical apologising tone. "I found you a container for if it happens again." Clank placed the container gently between his pillow and the edge of the bed.

"Thanks Clank..." Ratchet said opening his eyes and feeling guilty for not being able to wait. "Sorry about that."

Clank took a cloth and wiped up what was there. "We will clean the rest up later." The robot turned and glanced at the food, drinks, first aid equipment and other assorted supplies spread all over the floor as he said this.

"What's going on Clank?" Ratchet asked, taking advantage of finally being able to speak without feeling too sick or tired.

"I believe Talwyn is attempting to pilot us through a class four asteroid field."

"What!? Why? How come she doesn't just go around?" Ratchet wanted to ask her himself. He got up off of the bed and headed through the cockpit door, Clank following close behind him.

Ratchet looked through the front windscreen but he didn't see any asteroids. Walking up to Talwyn, he startled the girls by voicing his question. "What's going on out here?"

"Ratchet? What are you doing, are you okay?" Asked Tal.

"Clank's supposed to take care of you, why are you up?" Said Angela.

"I'm fine. I assumed you were having trouble when the ship turned sideways. Also Clank said you were trying to fly us through a class four asteroid field."

"Not anymore." Talwyn said through gritted teeth. "Class four quickly turned into class five. Completely impenetrable"

"We're going around." Angela sighed sounding somehow disappointed and yet relieved.

"Why were you doing that in the first place?" Ratchet asked a little shocked that Tal had tried to go straight through.

"Because it takes like three days to get around and it's huge! We don't have tons of supplies and we need to get there soon so you won't die!" Talwyn looked like she was about to bang her head against the controls.

"Thanks." Ratchet muttered rolling his eyes at her last comment.

"It'll be fine okay, there's nothing wrong with taking our time when that's the safest option." Angela reassured Talwyn. "We have to respect the time limit not try to cheat it."

"I feel alright now anyway..." Ratchet said though he still felt a little dizzy with a mild headache. It had died off a bit since he threw up, he was starting to think it was like a virus. You just suffer for a few days and then it goes away on its own. That's what it felt like to him right now.

"Perhaps you were merely influenced by the motion of the transport and it was not the result of the Breesh poison at all, and that is why you are in less discomfort than before you vomited."

"Clank!" Ratchet yelled embarrassed.

"Did my flying make you throw up?!" Talwyn asked a little amused but also feeling kind of guilty.

"You should really get back to bed Ratchet..." Angela said getting up out of her seat to escort him back to his bed. From both experiences, when she was in her own home after eating a piece of the poisonous fish, to when she was in hospital recovering from her own small dose of Speed, she had only experienced vomiting as a symptom when it was getting worse - not better. It helped if you had eaten only it but not if the poison had already spread everywhere else.

"I feel okay..." Ratchet replied but he allowed himself to be lead back into the other room.

Angela also happened to know that with the body working so hard to fight the poison and heal, heavy fatigue was a symptom.

She stared wide eyed at the mess of supplies spread out all over the floor instead of in the cupboards where they belonged. She sighed and led her friend back to his bed. She quickly got him settled in and she saw a patch of dried up bile on the mattress but it didn't look like it needed her attention. She noticed he had a container for if it happened again.

Ratchet realised for himself he was suddenly very tired again, and turned over onto his side to get comfortable and pulled the blanket up over himself.

Clank stepped into the room and watched Angela walk away from the bed in which Ratchet was already dozing off.

She went straight over to the many boxes of food and bottles of water spread out on the floor and started to pick them up and put them back in the cupboard. Clank walked over as well to help.

"How are you doing Clank?" The lady Lombax asked as they both got to work.

"Quite well myself thank you Miss Cross, though I am worried."

"We all are. It'll be alright though, we just need to get to Lecorm and we can get this all fixed up." Angela sighed.

"I have been wondering, who is this person that we are going to see?" Clank asked, curious.

"Well, he's a friend of a friend of mine, Max told me about him. He's very good at fixing things."

"What is his name?"

"I'm sure he said he's called Kaden. Max said he was once the Keeper of the Dimensionator, he knew everything about it, so I'm pretty sure he can help."

Clank almost dropped the supplies he was holding. "Is that true Miss Angela?!"

"Yeah, um. I'm still a bit worried- I'm sure it'll be fine! It's just that... Let's say he was wounded in a battle and he lost all of his memories... He's still good at fixing things but we're kind of relying on him recognising the Dimensionator. That's all I'm really worried about."

Clank was shocked into silence but Angela didn't notice.

"It's very sad really..." She continued. "I have never met him because Max didn't want to visit him because of Tachyon. He moved to the Nyyla Galaxy which was too far away for Percival to find out about it, so we left him alone. It's just really sad... Max said he was a good man with a family and he doesn't remember them, they're gone... It's going to be hell reminding him of that if we even can..."

Clank quickly turned his head to Ratchet and was relieved to find he had fallen asleep. What Angela had told him... It wouldn't be easy to break the news to him either.

"Angela, if what you say is true I hope you understand this is going to be very difficult to explain to Ratchet."

"Because we have to get an old Lombaxes memories of a war back to heal him? You don't say."

"There is that..." Clank took the time to think about the rest of his answer. "But mostly because, when Tachyon came for Ratchet–

"Hey wait a second, Tachyon came for me too! That's how I met Max, he saved my life! How did you guys survive?!"

"I- if you'll excuse me but perhaps that's a conversation for another time Miss Cross."

Angela nodded. "Okay... Sorry go on?"

"After Tachyon came for us, Ratchet met another Lombax named Alister. He told Ratchet many things about the Lombaxes, the most interesting at this current moment being that Ratchet's father was Kaen, the Keeper of the Dimensionator."

"Oh my gosh!" Angela breathed. "Kaden... Kaden's his dad?! Orvus that's incredible! If Kaden recognises him he could get his memory back easier and he doesn't have to grieve a lost son! He could be happy instead! He could fix the Dimensionator, he could tell us what happened on Fastoon, we could even see other Lombaxes!"

"Please Miss Angela! Keep your voice down!" Clank said quickly.

"Oh right..." Angela replied glancing at Ratchet to make sure she hadn't woken him.

"I know it is exciting for you but you must listen, we can not lay all this information on neither Ratchet nor Kaden all at once. It will be far too much for them to process in one moment or perhaps even one day."

"I understand, I understand... Sorry Clank it's a bit like that for me too, but I get what you mean." Angela paused to think for a while. "Should we go tell Talwyn?"

"Yes." Clank agreed. "We should tell her when we can be sure she is listening instead of concentrating on something else."

"Now should be a good time, we're out of the asteroid field and we have a long way to go."

"Alright then." Clank said sticking the last water bottle back into place.

Angela reached out and closed the cupboard door. "We've got a lot of time to fill in anyway."


	5. Hunger: Part One

Ratchet was hungry. It had been two days since he'd last eaten and it didn't feel good.

It was a problem to do with the sickness. Every time he tried to eat something his body rejected it in the hopes of getting rid of the poison. It saw food as a threat, and anything he tried to consume other than water was wasted.

They discovered this problem five days ago not long after he threw up for the first time, and Angela had done something about it. She had scoured the first aid kit and found a packet of tablets. If he took one an hour before he ate, the food would stay down. He had been taking two a day, one for breakfast and one for dinner, but there had only been six in the packet and they ran out in the three days it took them to get around the asteroid field.

Now they were in the middle of nowhere and Ratchet couldn't eat a thing.

He rolled over in his bed uncomfortably. If there was ever anything worse than eating while sick, it was not eating while sick. He thought.

He wished there was something in the room to distract him. Maybe a window or a painting or anything interesting to look at. There was actually a Holovision mounted on the wall, but it was useless out here because there was no signal. A Vid-Comic game console would've been great.

It was good when Clank was with him and he had someone to talk to, but he had gone off to help Talwyn and Angela with directions.

He wanted to ask Clank something he was becoming curious about. Angela and Talwyn kept talking about the person they were going to see on Lecorm. He was wondering what was so important about him and how exactly he was going to help. Ratchet was guessing he was a doctor, maybe an actual expert on rare species? The more he thought about it, the quicker he realised that no one had told him anything about the trip. If he wasn't the one who was sick, he'd have been wondering why he was here at all. He was used to serving a purpose.

Clank wouldn't be back for a while though so he had to find his own thing to do. Ratchet got up off the bed and stretched. Maybe he should go visit everyone in the cockpit. He wasn't tired right now and it was the only place he could make himself useful. Maybe he would ask them about the man on Lecorm. He thought. And talk to them all at once...

Ready to finally start doing something, Ratchet went through the cockpit door.

* * *

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately I am Miss Cross, there is no way of telling."

"What are you talking about, there has to be something! Don't just scan here scan the whole area." A Markazian commanded as she piloted their ship.

"I am sorry, but I can not preform a scan outside of a two hundred mile radius." Replied a small robots voice.

"Well that's helpful..."

Not one of the three knew what to do. They had been flying for five days and there wasn't a sign of life or recourses let alone a civilisation.

"We have to find something, a planet, a service station, -a pharmacy floating around on some asteroid I don't care! But if we don't find more of those tablets..." Talwyn trailed off.

"I should have known..." Angela said. "If we had just waited a day or two before setting off we would have known to bring more."

"There is nothing we can do about that now. We should just have to keep searching." Clank said.

A minute of silence went by and a frustration was building up in Talwyn.

"It's hopeless! This place is so empty!" She suddenly yelled., throwing her hands up away from the ships controls.

"Tal would you just calm down? Listen giving up isn't something we can just do." Angela scolded, shocked at her outburst.

"Ugh I know that. Why do you think I'm so frustrated?"

"Hang on, Tal there's something over there, what is it?" Angela pointed.

"Nothing? It's always nothing. Wait..." The Markazian leaned forward slightly to see what they were fast approaching. "That looks like... That looks like a billboard..."

"Read it what does it say?" Angela asked.

"I believe it says: 'Long trip? Come stop in at Yymorin for a break. Pick up the supplies you need. We are the small green planet left of the next asteroid cluster.'" Clank read. "Peculiar."

"I can't believe it!" Talwyn gasped.

"That's good news." Angela agreed.

Everyone heard a sound behind them and turned their heads to see Ratchet coming through the door. He was still in the pyjama like pants he was given at the hospital. In the rush to get moving, they had forgotten to bring any other clothes so he was still in hospital trousers, and still shirtless. He had forgiven them for it, since he was still fairly used to not wearing a shirt, but now they could see just how atrociously skinny he had gotten in just two days.

"Ratchet, you're up?" Tal questioned.

"You look awful." Angela blurted.

"Thanks Ange, it's always nice to hear your opinion on me." The Lombax replied.

Angela rolled her eyes.

"Do not worry Ratchet. We are coming within range of another planet. Soon we will be able to land there and search for the pills you need."

"I'm not worried, I wanted to know if there was anything better for me to do. I wanna help out."

"You are very sick Ratchet, you need the rest."

"Well that doesn't mean I can't do anything useful."

"Perhaps not, but it is better for you if you sleep."

"Come on Clank, we've almost arrived at Yymorin. There's no point in sending him back to bed now." Talwyn said.

"Hey, am I a little kid who won't take his nap or an actual part of this team?" Ratchet complained, but it was ignored.

"I actually am going to have to send you back to the bed for now, unless you think you can stand up while I come in for a landing." Talwyn told him as a small green planet came into view.

"Alright... I'll come back when we get there." Ratchet agreed.

Ratchet turns and heads back through the cockpit door.

"Strange how it doesn't have any neighbouring planets..." Angela observed taking another look out the window.

"Strap yourself in. I'm coming in for landing and I really don't want a repeat of what happened on iiculum." Talwyn realised she was a little bit concerned that Ratchet didn't have a seatbelt but dismissed the thought. Surely he couldn't be that hopeless.

Talwyn pulled the strap over herself, clicking it into place. Angela leaned down to pick up Clank and placed him on her knee before doing the same.

Talwyn just hoped that on this planet, they really could pick up the supplies they need.

* * *

Ratchet, Talwyn, Clank and Angela stepped out of the ship one by one, happy to get some fresh air. The landing had gone smoothly and they were keen to see what the place was like. Looking around them, they could see they had been directed to a busy marketplace.

"Alright, where do we start?" Talwyn wondered aloud.

"I believe we are looking for a pharmacy." Clank reminded her.

Talwyn glanced around at the surrounding shops. "Yes but... I can't read the writing."

"That's not fair, the billboard was written in Solanaian!" Angela complained.

"If you give me half an hour, I can scan the signs and download the language." Clank replied.

"Great! Thanks Clank. We can just have a look around while you do that." Tal suggested.

"Good idea." Angela agreed.

So the group set off on a walk. Looking around, Ratchet was always awed by seeing new places. The inhabitants of this planet were small dark green creatures with little to no variety in colour, but they all seemed to carry different shapes, as their skin was rather thick and lumpy. It looked strange, but it didn't look bad as it sounds.

Despite the locals being rather short, the buildings were actually quite tall, and it was surprising that these little creatures were able to build such things. Ratchet stared on in silence as they walked up the dust and dirt paved street.

"Look at that!" Angela pointed and rushed over to a display outside of a store. She ran her fingers over a rather nice looking mask and wondered if she should buy it, though she no longer had a need to protect her identity. She had however grown quite used to wearing them. "Maybe I'll get it... You never know when you're gonna need a mask." She said.

"Could you at least wait until Clank has downloaded the language?" Talwyn groaned.

"The point of a mask is to be unrecognisable though." Ratchet said. "That looks pretty easy to pick up in a crowd."

"So what? Maybe I don't want people to know what species I am, but I still wanna look good."

"We can come by this store on the way back if you wish Miss Cross." Clank assured.

"Alright..." Angela agreed.

They left the store and continued on down the street. People were looking at them but they didn't notice or care. There was a surprising amount of stuff to look at, the buildings were so tall and they had colourful decorations hanging down from them. These people seemed to love bright colours.

As they continued walking, Ratchet began to fall behind. Clank was the first to notice. "Ratchet, are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, Talwyn and Angela stopped walking and turned to see their friend leaning forward, with his hands leaning heavily on his knees.

"I'm uh... I'm..." Ratchet searched for the right words. "Kind of tired and I guess I feel a bit um... What's the word, empty?"

"You are weak because you are sick and have not eaten in an estimated 51 hours." Clank calculated.

"Really it's been that long now? I think I need to sit down..." Ratchet admitted.

"Alright well there's really nowhere to rest here Ratchet." Talwyn said glancing around and walking towards him. "Lean on me." She stood beside him and offered.

"Are you sure..?" Ratchet asked a little embarrassed but seriously considering.

"Yes of course I am. Lean on me." Talwyn confirmed, lifting his arm up around her shoulders and wrapping her own arm around his torso.

"I think you should take him back to the ship." Angela suggested biting her lip out of concern. "It won't be long until he's hit by another wave of fatigue."

"Alright, I'll take Ratchet back to the ship and you two can start searching for a pharmacy. I'll meet you back out here after I've put Ratchet to bed."

Ratchet didn't quite like the way Talwyn said that but he didn't object. He was starting to get a headache on top of everything else and it was distracting. He still couldn't believe the state he was in, he was supposed to be stronger than this...

"Alright. We'll see you soon." Angela nodded.

"Please have a safe trip." Clank called.

"Oh for goodness sakes Clank..." Ratchet groaned.

"Catch you later!" Talwyn said loudly as she lead Ratchet back towards the ship.

Angela waited until she couldn't see the pair anymore. "Alright Clank, how long until the language download is done?" She asked.

"Approximately two minutes, twenty four seconds." He replied.

"I guess... We just start looking for a shop that looks like a pharmacy then." Angela guessed.

They looked around a bit more. None of the buildings particularly resembled a pharmacy, but before she could get annoyed by it Clank's download was done.

"Ooh..." Clank giggled as he scanned all the writing with his new reading abilities. "Interesting. He hehehehehe."

"What is it Clank?"

"Oh... Nothing." He replied.

"Do you see any pharmacies?"

"No. Not yet, but if we continue walking forwards, I am certain we will find one."

Just a minute later, the store they were looking for came into Clank's sight. "This store is labeled Pharmacy." He pointed. Towards a tall pink building.

"Perfect!" Angela exclaimed and they entered the store.

Looking around, neither of them really recognised any of the medications stacked on the shelves, but Angela had the packet from the pills they wanted with her. All they had to do was go up to the counter and ask for it.

The pair approached the bench and a female waited behind the counter to serve them.

"–What can I do for you?–" She asked.

"–We would like to purchase some more of these pills.–" Clank said gently taking the packet from Angela and placing it up on the bench.

The lady examined it for a few seconds and shook her head. "–I'm sorry but we don't have this.–" She said. "–You will have to try another store.–"

"What did she say..?" Angela asked Clank as he led her towards the door.

"They don't have it. We will have to try again."

"Okay, that's okay. Now that you know the language it shouldn't be too hard to find another store. Right?"

* * *

This was a little more difficult than she'd expected. Ratchet wasn't making this very easy. All they needed to do was get to the ship, but Ratchet was getting slower every second, leaning more heavily on her as his eyes began to droop shut.

"Come on Ratchet, I can't carry you!" Talwyn shouted.

His big furry ears perked when he heard Talwyn yelling at him and he was awake once again. "Sorry... Tal maybe it's better if I don't lean on you." He said attempting to push her away.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't think any less of you for needing help." She retorted still holding him tight.

"No I mean if I'm standing on my own I couldn't possibly fall asleep." He yawned. "My willpower isn't good enough right now, I need to do it on my own." He said, and Talwyn understood so she let go.

He stepped away from her and continued walking on his own. He wasn't particularly unsteady, Tal noticed, but he couldn't seem to stand up straight.

"Ratchet are you sure you don't –

"I'm fine Tal." He said flatly before she could finish.

She could tell it was harder for him this way, but if it was what he chose to do she kind of had to respect that. So they continued on the same way, slowly walking along the busy dirt road. Tal was keeping an eye on him.

It seemed to be taking forever, but at last the ship was within sight. "Look Ratchet we're almost there." She pointed and turned to see his reaction. Strangely, he didn't seem to have heard her. His eyes were closed and he was slowly tipping forwards.

"Oh no!" Talwyn shouted as she rushed to catch him. She got to him just in time to keep him from crashing to the ground and getting trampled by the locals feet.

"RATCHET!" She shouted sounding somewhere between furious and fearful.

The Lombax opened his eyes again, a little slowly for the situation. "Wha- what's up?" He asked.

"How could you fall asleep while you were walking?!" She yelled standing him back up.

"I did?! How is that even possible?" Ratchet asked confused.

"I don't know, but somehow you managed." She said. "Listen the ship's right there, if you can't make it I'm just gonna have to leave you here."

"Keep your pants on Tal." Ratchet rolled his eyes, but then he stopped to think for a moment and sighed. "I'm sorry... Let's just get back to the ship." He said, and started walking at a much faster pace, forcing himself forward to prevent causing Talwyn any more grief.

Talwyn was surprised for a moment, but she followed right behind him until they arrived.

Talwyn reached into her pocket for the keys and unlocked the door, allowing Ratchet to go inside first.

Talwyn put the keys back in her pocket and went inside expecting Ratchet to already be passed out on the bed, but instead he was standing up against the wall waiting for her.

"What are you doing? You not tired now that we finally get here?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I am... I'm really tired but Tal, I wanted to apologise to you for making all this so hard for you."

"What do you mean?" She asked a little unsure.

"I want to apologise for everything. For crashing the ship, being careless, getting injured, getting sick, making you worried, making you wait. Making you come all the way out here to save my sorry butt instead of searching for your dad... And I want to thank you for choosing to help me anyway. You, Clank and Angela are better friends than I could have ever hoped for, and I want you to know how much I appreciate all this."

Talwyn was shocked for a minute. She didn't really know what to think at first. It wasn't often that they got emotional on each other. She would definitely have to tease him for this later, but right now...

"You know what Ratchet, we all seem to think it's our own fault when things go wrong sometimes, but I think we know each other well enough that we don't need to apologise for these things anymore. And you know what else? You're very welcome. Whatever we have to do to get you better, you're worth it." Talwyn leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

That opened his eyes. Ratchet stared at her shocked, and in awe. He looked like he wanted to talk about it but Talwyn wouldn't have it.

"Get to bed." She instructed. "You need more rest."

Silently, Ratchet pushed off of the wall and sat down on the bed. He leaned back into his pillow and drifted off quickly without another word.

Knowing he couldn't hear her, Talwyn spoke again. "We will get the medicine for you Ratchet, I promise." Not wanting to linger too much on this, she left him to sleep and went to find Angela and Clank.


	6. Hunger: Part Two

"Hey over here!" Talwyn called as she waved her arm around in the air. She had been searching for ages and now she had finally found Clank and Angela. They just hadn't seen her yet.

"Guys!" She yelled.

The two turned around to face her, Angela was wearing the mask she had wanted to buy. It didn't cover all her face of course, so behind it Talwyn could the Lombax's eyes light up in recognition.

Talwyn quickly ran over to them to see if they had found anything.

"Hello Miss Talwyn." Clank greeted once she had reached them.

"How are you guys going so far?" Tal panted wanting to know right away if they had found the tablets.

"Not very well I'm afraid." Clank replied. "We have searched in every store and there has been nothing."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

Angela and Clank both shook their heads sadly.

"Well, how many stores did you check? I'm sure there's gotta be some around!" Talwyn exclaimed worriedly.

"We did check Tal, there are only three pharmacies in this town and we asked about the medicine in all of them." Angela told her.

"Well who cares if we don't get the same brand, it could be something completely different, we just need something that will work." Tal reminded her.

"Like I said we asked! They all said that their only treatment involved a needle, and you need to be of that same species to be allowed to have it- for safety reasons. There isn't anything he can safely have done."

"Well what do you think we should do then?" Talwyn asked. She was getting seriously concerned now. She wasn't ready to back out on her promise.

"There's only one thing we can do, we have to try and make the trip. Get him to Lecorm, find his dad, have him fix the Dimensionator, find the Lombaxes, and get an actual Cure." Angela said.

"He'll never make it that long!" Talwyn exclaimed shocked. "Even if it could work, we can't DO that to him, it's risky and it's cruel. We have to try to find something to help..."

"There is nothing okay!" Angela shouted. "Listen, our only option is to actually get on top of the sickness and fix it. All this just proves we have a time limit and we can't afford to waste a second arguing about this here! The sooner we leave the better."

"No, I won't let you do that, he'll die! We need to stay and keep searching. I haven't even been into any of the shops yet, let me try to find it." Talwyn said as she snatched the empty tablet pack out of Angela's hand.

"Hey! You have to listen to me, there's no time Tal." Angela reached out and Talwyn thought she was going to snatch the packet back, but she simply swiped it out of her hand and it landed on the ground.

"You sound like you're giving up." Talwyn crossed her arms.

"You're holding onto false hopes instead of trusting us." Angela accuses.

"That's because I don't trust you! I trust Ratchet and I trust Clank. No one else."

"Please Miss Talwyn, I am afraid that Angela is right." Clank interrupted hoping to defuse the argument. "There is nothing on this planet that can help him. We have searched the city and asked about. There are no such thing as tablets here."

"See?" Angela sighed. "That's why we need to leave as soon as possible."

"But I am afraid Miss Cross that Talwyn is also correct. Ratchet will not survive long enough to reach Lecorm without a source of nutrients." Clank continued sadly. "If he cannot eat anything before we reach our destination, he will starve."

Both girls looked deflated. They stared at Clank lacking words, hoping desperately that he had the answer, but he did not continue to speak. They both badly wanted to get moving, Angela to the ship and Talwyn to the shops, but Clank who always knew best had taken the fuel out of their tanks.

Clank was thinking. It was a tricky situation for him, he could only use logic and not rely on hope. While sometimes he wished it could be different- he knew if he wasn't the logical one things could quickly go very wrong. Maybe he had an idea, while there didn't appear to be any neighbouring planets, it was always worth the inquiry. They could ask someone if there was anywhere closer than Lecorm or iiculum they could go. They might have time to search for what they needed on another planet.

"We should ask if there is another planet we could visit to continue our search." Clank suggested.

"Good idea Clank." Angela agrees.

"Wait a second, I didn't see any other planets around, it was hard enough to find this one." Talwyn reminded the robot.

"Yes but the ships radar and my own scanners do not reach very far. It is easy to ask and worth our time." Clank said.

"Come on Tal it's not hopeless." Angela assured. "Clank's right, the galaxy is full of planets. We just need some directions is all."

"Alright, where do we ask?" Tal agreed.

"I spotted an information centre near the visitors ship parking. I would guess that that is the best place to ask." Clank said.

Angela and Talwyn nodded and all started walking back in the direction from which Tal had just come.

Soon enough, the information centre came into view and Talwyn didn't know how she could've missed it! It was a huge cylinder shaped building with a blue tiled dome for a roof. She couldn't understand why it needed to be so large until she walked inside. There were things everywhere! Historical artefacts, pieces of old machinery, clothes and tools and pieces of broken things and junk everywhere. Most of it honestly didn't resemble much to her. Each one had a sign written in both their own language and Solanian describing the item, it's use and how old and important it was. It seriously just looked like they were trying to show off, and Talwyn really wasn't interested in reading about their junk.

They made their way over to a desk centred in the middle of the single roomed building. There was a lady shuffling papers and trying to make herself appear busy in the otherwise empty building.

"Hello." Angela called trying to get her attention.

"Hello." The woman looked up and greeted back, setting the papers aside. "What can I do for you?"

"We have come to inquire if there are any more planets within a reasonable flying distance from here?" Clank asked from down far below the edge of the counter.

The woman at the desk leaned over as far as she could in order to see who was talking. She appeared displeased by his request.

"Please." Clank continued. "We need to know where else we can go."

The woman was clearly offended now, assumably ticked off by the fact they her only visitors only wanted to go elsewhere. "There are none." She said simply. "Not a single other planet, sorry I can't help you." She said learning back and crossing her arms.

"No listen we actually need to know if there are any planets, we're not tourists." Talwyn started to tell the woman who only raised an eyebrow. "We are here because our friend is sick and we can't buy any medicine here. We need help." She finished with a sigh.

The lady's features seemed to soften just a little. "Oh I'm sorry." She repeated a little gentler. "But I wouldn't lie. There is no place around you can get to without flying for about three days."

"If you're talking about iiculum, we just came from there." Angela sighed.

"So which direction are you heading?" The lady asked.

"Lecorm." Angela answered.

The lady turned and started doing something on her computer. After about a minute she confirmed their worst fears. "Nothing." She repeated. "The closest planets to here are indeed Lecorm, iiculum, and also Pyron but those last two are both in completely opposite directions to the place you were initially heading."

"How long does it take to get to Lecorm?" Talwyn asked doubtfully.

"A week traveling at light speed to reach the next solar system across." She reads off the computer.

"Alright... Thank you." Talwyn sighed before turning to leave. Clank and Angela also thanked the lady before following Tal out the door.

They all stand there together outside of the building silently for a minute. Angela was about to ask what their next move might be when Talwyn suddenly yelled out and startled them. "AARRGHH!" She screamed as she scrunched up her face and threw her arms up in frustration.

"It's not fair." She said angrily. "Ratchet never did anything wrong, we all tried so hard to help him and he's not even going to live..."

"He's not going to die!" Angela exclaimed shocked.

"No, he's just deadly sick and there's nothing we can do that's all." Talwyn replied before storming off towards the ship.

Angela stared after her unable to believe she was going to give up just like that. She stepped forward to go after her but Clank grabs her hand. She turns questioningly to face the robot who began to explain.

"Please do not worry about Miss Apogee. She will calm down soon enough. For now I would like your help. I have one last idea of something that could help Ratchet.

* * *

Talwyn fumbled unsuccessfully for her keys for a second time that day. Nothing was going right. She couldn't hold onto her keys, she lost her shit in front of Clank and Ange, there were no other planets around, they couldn't find any medicine, they had come so far in the hopes of finding a Cure and her best friend was officially dying.

Frustrated tears began to form in her eyes but then the lock suddenly clicked into place and she was finally able to open the door. She slammed it shut behind her as she went inside Ratchet stirring in his sleep as she did so.

Talwyn noticed this and tried to keep a bit quieter. She wasn't sure if it was right to let him sleep unaware that he was on his final few days of life, but she also knew he really needed the sleep, and surely it took the attention away from his painful empty stomach.

She went into the cockpit and sat in the passenger seat, leaving the door open so she could still see into the back. So she could still mostly see Ratchet in his bed.

Talwyn was fidgety. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted an answer and for everything to be alright. Finally her anxiety got the better of her and she went to wake the Lombax up.

She gently shook him and he stirred once more. His tired eyes eased open this time so he could see who had pulled him from his slumber. "Tal?" He groaned as he sat himself up a little. "I only just got to sleep, what's going on?"

"Actually you've been asleep for about two hours..." Talwyn said biting her lip. She knew that wasn't really long at all. "And I kind of have to talk to you about something I uh... We couldn't find a medication Ratchet... There's nothing on this planet that can help you and the closest planet to here is iiculum back where we came from! I don't know what to do." Talwyn finished her rant and dropped her head down into her hands.

Ratchet stared at her for a second, if he was being honest he didn't catch much of that. He was still mostly working on processing the fact that he was awake, but Talwyn was clearly distressed about something so he pushed himself up off the bed a little shakily and went over and soothe her.

"Hey everything's alright Tal." He said. "You don't need to worry, before you know it I'll be back on my feet and we can get back to searching for your dad."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?!" Talwyn asked. "You're not getting better, we can't find you a Cure, we have no time to change planets and you're going to die!" A few tears began to slip from the Markazian's eyes and Ratchet could see she was not acting like herself at all.

What she said scared him no doubt. Obviously he was Ratchet the hero, he risked his life day after day protecting galaxies, but hearing from her that he was sure to die still had an effect on him. It made his heart beat just that little bit faster as if to say 'I'm not ready.' It made him feel uncomfortable in his own body in a different way from what he'd ever felt, but he would have to push the idea aside. It wasn't going to help anyone in any way for him to feel like this, and clearly Talwyn was feeling it worse than him right now and needed some comfort.

"Listen Tal..." Ratchet started, but if he was being honest with himself he had no idea what to say. I'm actually not dying? You tried your best? I had a good run anyway? None of those would serve any purpose aside from making her more distressed. He has to do something though, he couldn't imagine how he would feel if the situation was the other way around...

"You know what, I'm not going to die Tal, and if I do..." Ratchet swallowed. "If I do it's not your fault." He said taking one of her hands in his. "Think about it, we always manage to get through no matter what it is we're faced off with. I'm not going to leave you here alone." He promised.

Talwyn's throat clogged up. She didn't want to break down in front of Ratchet so she leaned forward and hugged him tight.

"I'm not going to leave you here alone." Ratchet repeated hugging her back.

* * *

You're a genius Clank!" Angela laughed in relief as the pair made their way back to the ship with an armful of supplies.

"It is not the idea I would have preferred resort to, but as least it should help." The robot replied.

"How did you know these even existed?"

"I didn't." Clank chuckled.

Luck must have actually been on their side. They had gone shopping and found a special kind of drink. Clank's original idea was to buy some fruit juice or energy drinks of some sort to try and keep Ratchets strength up at least a bit, but this was much better. It was almost like a soup, full of vitamins and lots of things Ratchet needed to stay alive, but it wasn't thick or chunky like the canned ones they had in the ship that he couldn't keep down. It was much more like a liquid and Clank was confident that it would help.

"How come we didn't think of this before?" Mused Angela.

"I am not sure. I suppose we were caught up in the idea that the tablets were the only thing that could help, but I still wish we could have found them. This was only meant to be a backup plan." Clank replied.

"Well I think it will work just fine." Angela said as they reached the door to the ship. "I think Talwyn will definitely want to know."

Clank who had a free hand stepped forward and knocked on the door of the ship quietly so as not to wake Ratchet. They waited a few seconds for someone to open the door and were surprised when they were greeted by the Lombax himself. They could see Talwyn behind him, sitting on a chair and wiping her face.

"Is everything okay..?" Angela asked a little unsure what to think of the scene.

"It's alright Ange." Ratchet assured glancing back quickly at Tal. "Come on in, she said you were going to turn up at some point."

Clank stepped into the ship first because he was small, then Angela walked in with her arms full of supplies. She wanted to go straight over to see if Talwyn was okay, but she needed to unload all the bottles of drink she was carrying so she went over to the cupboard instead and started packing everything away.

"Miss Talwyn are you feeling alright?" Clank asked sounding concerned.

Said Markazian bit her lip and nodded. She wasn't lying or telling the truth really. She did feel better after having a talk with Ratchet but it did nothing to change the fact that he was dying. Clank had something to tell her though.

"We have found something Miss Apogee, that will help Ratchet." He started to explain.

"Really?!" She gasped.

"Indeed. While we are still not able to give him food to eat, we have found a drink that will help him regain his strength and give him back some energy."

Angela heard Clank explaining and taking it as her cue, she held out a drink towards Ratchet for him to try. "These are for you." She confirmed.

Ratchet thanked Angela as he took the bottle in his hand and studies it with curiosity. This one had a yellowish white liquid inside but looking into the cupboard he could see they had bought a lot of different coloured ones as well. They all had cardboard sort of draped underneath joining at the top to hold the lid on. Everyone looked to him as he took the bottle in his hands, wanting to know if he could drink it alright or not. Sensing this, Ratchet went right ahead and ripped the cardboard thing off so he could unscrew the lid and have a taste.

It was unusual but not unpleasant. It tasted a lot like it was quite a few different types of food all blended together to make almost like some sort of a meal in a bottle? It was strange. He would have expected something like that to turn into more of a purée but it was completely liquified and even a tiny bit transparent.

"How is it?" Angela asked.

"It's weird..." Ratchet admitted. "Not exactly bad but what do these people actually use it for? I can't help but feel like you're putting me in the category with babies and people who are so old they don't have any teeth left, is it one of those kind of things..?"

"No actually, the food markets were full of these things believe it or not. I'm pretty sure most people here drink it." Angela explained. "It is a little odd... But none of us think any less of you don't worry about that! We're just glad we could do something about the situation." Angela sighed. She was as ready as Talwyn Clank and Ratchet for all this to be over.

It still made Ratchet fairly uncomfortable knowing that he couldn't eat, that he had to have everything turned into juice for him. Heck it was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him! But he was admittedly grateful they had gone to the trouble for him, and relieved he finally had something to put in his empty stomach.

"Thanks you guys." He sighed. "Just for everything, I'm lucky to have such good friends like you."

Angela Talwyn and Clank smiled. They were equally grateful that they were able to help. Hopefully they would be able to get moving soon.

"Have the rest of your drink." Angela instructed. "And go back to sleep when you're done. We'll stay here for the night, and if you're still feeling fine by morning we'll know the drink worked and we can get back on track and make the rest of the trip to Lecorm."

Ratchet sat down on the bed to do as what was suggested and Angela and Talwyn went into the cockpit to check their coordinates. They wanted to be ready to leave tomorrow.


	7. There's Something We Need to Tell You

Clank glanced guiltily at his friend who was sitting on the bed, oblivious as to who they were making this trip to see and for the past four days it had been bothering the little robot. He had been pestering Angela and Talwyn the whole time, reminding them the sooner they told him the better, and he was starting to wish he hadn't let them say 'not yet'.

He wondered if they realised the damage it could do if they left it too long. He wondered if they already had. They were only a few hours away from the next solar system after all, and it might not give his friend a lot of time to think about it before they have to go. He thought he was probably the only one who really knows, but Ratchet was truly a rather sensitive Lombax at heart, and this was exactly the kind of thing that could potentially hurt him the most. Clank wanted to do what was best for him.

From the cockpit he started to hear two female voices speaking aggressively at each other, and he mimicked a sigh. He wished they would stop their bickering. Mostly when they did this it would turn out they were fighting over who got to pilot the ship. This time as well as hearing them argue, he felt the ship's momentum start to slow. That couldn't be good... Getting up from his spot at the recharging station, he decided to go in and check on the girls.

"Hello Miss Apogee and Miss Cross. How are things going?" He greeted as he came through the cockpit door.

"Are you serious Angela?!" Talwyn was saying.

"Come on you knew this was going to happen. We were never gonna get there running on the amount that you packed. It's your ship Tal! We could have got some at Yymorin." Angela said as she pointed toward a gauge on the dash.

"No well... Listen I was stressed out okay?! I wasn't thinking about that I was thinking about-

Is everything alright?" Clank interrupted calmly.

Both girls turned to look at Clank and the room fell silent for a few seconds.

"Clank? I... I don't know." Talwyn started.

"Tell him, he could help." Angela sat down and sighed.

"Clank we're out of fuel again..." Talwyn admitted.

"Really? After everything that has happened, how could you forget to get fuel?" Clank asked.

"Okay look I didn't forget, I just didn't think of it... I was worried." She huffed.

"I understand Miss Talwyn. Perhaps we have spare fuel in the back?"

"Used it." Angela butted in.

"You guys were resting, but we actually ran out yesterday... That was our spare fuel we were running on, ugh I'm such an idiot!" Talwyn groaned.

"There is no need to get stressed." Clank assured. "Are we truly out?"

"Yes, I just told you."

"Then we should activate the emergency lazer signal. We are only an odd few hours away from the nearest solar system, so it shouldn't take too much time for the local rescue authorities to reach us."

"Oh thank Orvus for you Clank!" Talwyn said with a relieved smile.

"She's stressed, and I haven't flown a ship for years, you should be the pilot." Angela commented.

Talwyn ignored her and reached for the switch to the distress signal hoping not to accidentally blind anyone. "I wonder how many bolts this is going to end up costing." She sighed.

"Do not worry about that Miss Apogee, Ratchet and I would be glad to pay for the expenses. In the mean time, I think there's a certain talk we need to have with him. I am not pleased you have put it off for so long, but now would be the perfect opportunity to tell him if not the last." Clank mentioned.

"Yeah you're right. We should go tell him now." Talwyn confirmed.

"I agree." Angela nodded.

"I will let him know we are ready." Clank started to go through the door, but Talwyn stopped him.

"No wait, uh do you mind if I do it?" She asked. "I just... I'm going to check on him and see if he's ready."

"He will have to be." Clank sighed. "Because if we do not tell him now, he will be in for a shock."

"Yes, got it. I'll let him know." Talwyn replied before heading out through the cockpit door. She hoped he wouldn't be upset they hadn't told him yet...

* * *

Ratchet was seriously feeling more useless than he ever had. Four miserable days in a row he spent doing nothing but sleeping and the occasional chat with Clank. He had offered a few times to fly the ship, even though they were in the middle of nowhere and the autopilot would do just fine, but Talwyn and Angela had absolutely insisted he rest up instead.

He had more energy than before now, thanks to the drinks that Clank and Angela had gotten for him at Yymorin, but realistically it did nothing to help with the waves of fatigue he was having. It gave him more strength, but it didn't work the same way as food... It did help, but it left him feeling empty. He had been expecting to be feeling a bit better and he wasn't. When it came down to it though, it was there so he could be alive not comfortable.

He sat up on the bed rubbing his eyes before moving his hands to brush his ears back, thinking it wouldn't be too much longer before they got there. Suddenly he felt the ship beginning to slow, and he wondered what could be happening.

He looked up as the cockpit door slid open and Talwyn walked through. "Hey Tal, what's up is there a problem?" He questioned.

"Uh well technically yes, we ran out of fuel but don't worry, we sent out a distress signal. There should be someone here to help us soon enough. How are you feeling?"

"Oh better... Just bored, tired and a little lacking, that is not my best but not my worst. You're probably feeling just about the same?"

"Oh yeah there hasn't been much to do. Me and Angela have fought over who gets to fly the ship a couple times but it won't be long now."

Ratchet laughed. "Ah so that's why you weren't letting me fly!"

"No! It's because you fall asleep in the middle of things!" Tal exclaimed.

"Oh like its gonna make a difference out here anyway, there's nothing around." Ratchet said rolling his eyes.

"Well once someone turns up we'll reaching the solar system quite soon, and that brings us to the conversation that we need to have..."

"What conversation?" Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "Is it about the guy on Lecorm? Because I think if it's as important as you make it out to be you're going to need to tell me soon."

"How would you know that?"

"You guys have been talking about it! I am in the same ship as you, I hear you guys whispering and also Clank won't tell me. He says I have to wait for you because you all want to tell me together."

Talwyn paused. Yes, Clank had come into the cockpit many times asking if they were ready to have a talk with him, but he never mentioned Ratchet knew that much already. Talwyn nodded and opened the cockpit door, poking her head through to call Angela and Clank in.

"So what's so important about this guy, is he some kind of criminal we're gonna need to pound information out of or what?"

"Ratchet please, this is serious." Clank scolded and the Lombax went quiet.

"He is not a criminal and we will certainly not be hurting him. If you will let me begin from the start, he is a Lombax and we need to be careful with him."

"He's a Lombax? Wow Clank, after meeting Alister and now that Angela- you're back- I'm not sure I'm really that surprised. How's he gonna help us?"

"By fixing the Dimensionator..." Talwyn put in, and Clank pulled the broken device out of his compartment to show him.

Ratchet stared at the contraption confused. They were making this awful trip to meet some random Lombax who they assumed was better at him than fixing things? That was a little insulting... "You kept that-? I tried to fix this guys... I couldn't do it, it's busted. What makes you think this guy will know how to do that?"

"We don't know that he will be able to fix it." Clank admitted.

"Great, that's reassuring." Ratchet rolled his eyes but then repositioned himself nervously. He was admittedly feeling rather uneasy. "So uh, how did you know how to find this guy exactly?"

"Ratchet, Tachyon came for me too." Angela started. "I was lucky enough that Talwyn's father Max came to save me. Unfortunately, we had to part ways. He went to another dimension and I ended up all the way out here, but we did get a chance to talk about some things. Max knew this Lombax well. He was one of the few to escape Tachyons attack without being sent to the other dimension."

"But I am afraid that he was however injured, and the trauma caused him to lose a lot of his memories." Clank finished.

"We were hoping to be able to bring them back..." Talwyn added.

Ratchet's mind raced a bit. "Wait just hold up a second so you're saying that we are making this trip to see a Lombax with no real knowledge on what the Dimensionator is, we're expecting him to fix it even after I couldn't, and before he can even do that we have to get back his war memories?! Are you guys insane?"

"Ratchet-"

"No wait there's also the matter of Max, and you guys waiting until now to tell me about all this! How can that even be called a plan?! You just-"

"RATCHET!" Clank shouted. "Please try to keep your head, there is more to it than we have explained."

"What are you waiting for?" He pressed.

"He does know about the Dimensionator Ratchet." Talwyn informed. "In fact he pretty much knows more about it than anyone else."

"That's impossible..." Ratchet tried hard to understand. "Just tell me please, I don't...?"

"It's your dad Ratchet. We're going to see Kaden." Talwyn finished.

Ratchet's eyes widened in shock, his heart beating fast. Admittedly he felt a little hopeful as well, but it was much too soon to be getting his hopes up, and more than that he was upset. "What?! No he's dead, it's impossible!" He insisted though he hoped it wasn't true.

"Please listen Ratchet, we are quite sure it is him." Clank assured.

"Max told me his name was Kaden and that he used to be the Keeper of the Dimensionator." Angela explained. "Tachyon tried to kill him but when people from the surrounding planets came to check for survivors and survey the damage they found him. He had suffered significant head injuries but they managed to save him... We thought if we could show him the Dimensionator or if he met you, it could bring his memory back!"

"Wait I don't understand." Ratchet began, starting to feel sick again. "I just want to kn-

BANG! Something hit the side of the ship and they were almost thrown from their seats.

"What was that?!" Talwyn gasped.

"Perhaps help has arrived?" Clank guessed doubtfully.

Ratchet was pulled so abruptly from the conversation, but he wasn't done. He needed to know if his father was truly alive. He was about to ask again when-

BANG! Something else hit them as they were standing up to check, and they nearly all came crashing to the floor.

"Shit it sounds like someone's attacking us!" Ratchet shouted above the sound of the ship being knocked around, realising they obviously had a more urgent situation on their hands.

"I think you're right..." Angela breathed as they all rushed out into the cockpit to see what was happening. They were met with the sight of a ship coming up next to them, cannons sticking out the sides and a huge skull painted on the side of the ship.

"Oh you're kidding me!" Angela exclaimed.

"Space pirates." Ratchet groaned.

"They must have seen our distress signal." Clank realised.

"Those dogs! Trust a band of space pirates to show up the second they know you're vulnerable. What are we going to do?" Talwyn asked.

"I'll get my weapons." Ratchet decided.

"Ratchet no, you are very ill. You must leave this to us." Clank objected.

"Listen it's not like I don't think you guys can do it, but you will need a hand with this. I can still help. I'm feeling okay right now." Ratchet lied.

"If you fall unconscious or become unable to function they will not hesitate to take advantage of your state. You might be feeling better now, but the sickness will come back and we mustn't take the chance of that happening when you are in combat."

"I'll be fine, I'm not going to fall asleep in the middle of an attack okay, and besides I'll have you with me. You always have my back right?"

BANG! The Pirates blasted them again.

Ratchet retreated into the back room to put his armour on and grab his weapons. He returned a minute later and tossed one to both Angela and Talwyn. "Here Ange you take my Combuster, Tal you can use the Doom Blades. I've got plenty of others with me and it won't hurt you guys to have extras."

"What's the plan?" Talwyn asked.

"They're pulling up alongside us and they've stopped firing. If I had to guess they plan to come aboard. If they do that we'll be cornered in here." Ratchet replied.

"So what do we do?" Angela questioned.

Ratchet thought for a second. "Put your helmets on. I'm going to break into their ship and get them from behind. Clank you can come with me as always, and you two can stay here and defend. We gotta go now to make sure they don't see us." Ratchet instructed as he helped Clank up onto his back.

Clank, Tal and Ange all nodded in agreement and they heard a different kind of thump. They could see the pirates had attached an airlock so they could break into their ship. Then they heard a muffled countdown, and realised a bomb had been planted on the door.

"That's our cue, good luck." Ratchet said.

"You too guys, stay safe." Talwyn replied.

"We will do our best to keep out of harms way." Clank added before Ratchet went up through and closed the hatch.

Ratchet activated his mag boots and located a section of grav pads on the roof of their ship. "Alright now we just have t-

BOOM! Just then the door exploded and the pirates starting trying to board the ship. Angela and Talwyn wouldn't let them get very far.

"Let's get moving." Ratchet said.

"I see some more grav pads on the roof of their ship." Clank observed.

"Alright thanks pal." Ratchet let his mag boots deactivate and he leapt into the air toward the ship before he began to drift helplessly away. As soon as he was close enough, he reactivated the mag boots and he was instantly pulled to land on the roof of the pirate's ship.

"Ooh, I hope that wasn't too loud." He winced.

"There should be an emergency evacuation hatch around somewhere. It may not be easy to get inside, but if this is an older model ship we shouldn't have any worries." Clank informed him.

"Alright uh... There! That looks like one." Ratchet walked up to it and pulled. When it didn't budge, he took out his Omniwrench and he was able to lever it open with ease.

"Looks like these pirates need to update their ship."

"Please be very quiet, if we wish to make it out of here we should try not to draw attention to ourselves." Clank reminded him.

"Got it." Ratchet mumbled as he secured the hatch back in place.

Just then, a pirate rounded the corner and shouted. "Hey! What are you doing there?"

Ratchet quickly turned, pulled the Warmonger out on him and fired. The robot was blasted to pieces before he could even react. "Scrap that, we'd better get moving. Someone would've heard that for sure."

Clank sighed. "Oh Ratchet..."

Ratchet began to run but he wasn't sure where he was going. He just continued on in the knowledge that he would meet up with another pirate at some point. It wasn't long before he ran into a group of them. They all turned and saw him almost right away and immediately began to fire at him, but he acted fast. Pulling out his Pyrociter, he incinerated them before they could do anything else. Then they continued on until they were met with more enemies.

That was the plan. Take out as many pirates as he could from the inside, and it was working well as usual. They continued to obliterate pirate after pirate as they blindly navigated the ship's dark corridors. Clank was growing increasingly worried as Ratchet's pace began to slow, his breathing grew heavier and he was beginning to rely on the little robot every time someone came up behind him. They both continued on like this silently just doing their jobs, until eventually Ratchet had to stop.

The Lombax slowed to an expected halt and stood there, the sound of him breathing hard echoing in the empty hallway.

"Ratchet, are you alright?" Clank asked attempting to take a glance at his friend from where he was, but he was unable to.

"I'm uh... I'm alright I just- I just need to stop for a second." Ratchet panted, leaning forward heavily on his knees.

"I am very worried about you Ratchet, you must tell me what is wrong. If you are feeling sick or tired we will need to retreat to the ship as soon as possible."

Ratchet didn't reply for a minute, he had his hand pressed against his forehead waiting for a sudden wave of nausea to pass. He had been pushing himself he knew, but he had been determined to get his job done. Right now though he was starting to realise this was probably about as far as he could go. He was getting more dizzy, nauseated and tired with every minute he spent doing this. "Actually... I have to admit, I'm exhausted pal... I feel like I have to lay down."

"Then we must hurry and get back to the ship." Clank advised. "You have done enough, and besides Angela and Talwyn are capable. But if you do not get back soon, we could be in a very dangerous situation."

"Alright pal, agreed." Ratchet confirmed a little concerned as he wiped some sweat from his brow. "Which way?"

Clank quickly scanned the ship and was able to get the direction they needed. "We will have to go back to the same hatch." Clank informed him. "There is only one, however the quickest way to get there is not back the way we came. I will let you know which way to go."

"Thanks, which way now?" Ratchet asked as he got ready to move again.

"Left twice at the next two corners."

Ratchet started off once again and went left twice at the next two corners before going straight again. "Alright?"

"Continue on this way."

"Okay..." Ratchet continued on for a minute, beginning to feel worse until a four-way crossroad came up.

"Turn right up ahead."

As instructed, Ratchet turned right at the next turn but they were both shocked to discover a large group of pirates waiting right there for them.

Ratchet was for once caught completely unprepared, and he had no choice but to run as fast as he could back in the other direction as they began shooting at him. The pirates of course gave chase and Ratchet started to panic as he fumbled for a gun.

Blue buzzing bullets began to whiz by as he ran. "Ratchet! Electricity!" Clank called out.

The young Lombax didn't reply, he was trying to find a gun to equip that wasn't out of ammo. He was wishing he hadn't used up all his good weapons, he didn't have much else but Plasma Beasts, Arc Lasher, Nightmare Box, his wrench of course and about ten Fusion Bombs. He decided to use those, so quickly ducking behind a corner to prepare he pulled the Bomb Glove on as fast as he could.

He aimed as carefully as he could in his current state, jumped out from his spot and threw one into the middle of the group of pirates and blew one of them to pieces. He kept on jumping in and out of his hiding place as they shot waves of bullets at him. He was trying to be extra careful with the electric bullets, they were the 'one shot and you drop' types. On top of that- if one hit him it would damage Clank as well- but he could feel himself growing tired, almost like he was going to actually fall asleep then and there.

He didn't fall asleep, but he was no longer focused. He was dizzy and nauseated, and Clank was noticing he wasn't doing very well at dodging anymore.

One more bomb should do it. Ratchet thought and he prepared to jump out into the open once more, but Clank saw there was an enemy coming up the corridor from the other side. "Ratchet wait!" Clank called out but it was too late. Ratchet jumped out right in front of the other pirate, and the little robot had to make the split second decision to detach from his back before he did.

Clank could only stand and watch as in the course of a few seconds, Ratchet made a wrong move, and was shot in the back with a viscous blast of electricity.

The Lombax cried out in surprise and pain, before he came crashing to the ground, where he lay face down not moving or breathing.

A horrifying image of Ratchet being struck in the chest by an electric blast once before, flashed through Clank's mind, causing him to panic. Thoughts of 'No!' And 'Not again!' Struck him like an unseen force. It couldn't be happening again, it just couldn't! There was nothing he could do if Ratchet was dead this time! He would be gone forever and Clank would be helpless to it!

Clank was in a panicked trance, staring at his best friend as he lay unmoving on the ground.

The pirates cheered in victory and started to make their way over, but Clank didn't notice. He was waiting, wide eyed for Ratchet to move.

After what felt like forever he did, the Lombax began to gasp for breath. His eyes were still tightly closed as he wrapped his arms around his stomach, and curled up in pain. "Uuugghh oowww..." He groaned loudly. "Clank..?"

That snapped him out of it. He had to do something, Clank realised. He rushed out to his friend and started to regret abandoning him the waay he did, but in the back of his mind he knew things would be a whole lot worse if he hadn't detached.

The pirates began shouting as they realised they hadn't killed them both, and raised their weapons once more. Thinking quick, Clank stripped the Bomb Glove from Ratchet's hand and put it on his own hand.

He was glad to find that a bomb had appeared Taking quick and careful aim, Clank threw the last three grenades at the enemies in front and the one behind him and the pirates were taken out with a yell, and then all was still.

Now apart from a few piles of now scrap metal, he and Ratchet were alone in the room. "Ratchet?" Clank called desperately. "Ratchet please tell me you're okay!?"

"Clank what- what happened I?" The Lombax gasped.

"I thought you were dead...!" Clank admitted feeling near hysterics.

"I want to meet my dad..." Ratchet uttered, his breathing uneven. He struggled to move, but he found he couldn't get up. The pain from the electric blast was still throbbing mercilessly through him.

"What do you mean?" Clank asked, his heart beginning to ache at seeing Ratchet like this, and for fear of what his friend was trying to say, the guilt of having not told him about Kaden sooner still burning strong underneath that.

"I've always wanted to meet him, ever since I was a kid."

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner Ratchet..." Clank apologised sadly.

"It's not that Clank, it hurts..." Ratchet groaned. "I mean it really really hurts I just- I can't move..."

If Clank's heart was racing before that was nothing compared to now. He knew they weren't out of the woods yet, but if Ratchet couldn't move they were in more trouble than he thought.

"We have to get back to the ship Ratchet, if any more pirates come around that corner we will be in a lot of danger." Clank pressed.

"I can't Clank..." He winced sounding tired, defeated.

"Ratchet please get up, I cannot carry you!" Clank panicked.

"I'm about to pass out Clank!" Ratchet shouted.

Clank glanced around quickly searching for a solution. There was nothing left in the corridor except scrap metal and bolts. Looking back down at Ratchet, he noticed he had his eyes closed. Seeing this, Clank leaned forward and put his arms underneath Ratchet's. Preparing himself to attempt to drag Ratchet back to the ship, he began to pull and stretch him out.

Suddenly Ratchet's eyes came shooting open and he cried out as Clank jostled him. Clank quickly let go and jumped back in surprise, hoping he hadn't hurt him badly.

Ratchet gasped and curled in on himself once more in an attempt to get the pain to stop.

Clank's mind raced for a solution but he didn't have one. The one and only thing that would help right now is if Ratchet were able to move.

"Clank, what are you doing?" Ratchet groaned.

"I was trying to help you, I am sorry."

"Don't be Clank, I know you mean well." He sighed.

"I don't know what to do!" Clank continued to panic.

They began to hear footsteps echoing in the corridor.

"Please get up Ratchet! You have to be able to move!"

The sound of shoes pounding on the floor grew louder.

"I'm sorry Clank, I can't do this anymore." Ratchet said giving in. He felt sick, he felt tired. He had no energy left and the blast from the gun was still burning painfully in his back. "Just say hi to dad for me..."

Two figures rounded the corner and started running towards them.

"Clank, just go!"

"I will not leave you Ratchet!" Clank insisted.

"Hey!" A voice shouted from the end of the corridor.

"Guys is that you!?" Another voice called, but it didn't sound like a pirate.

Clank recognised the voice and suddenly his mind began to clear. "Angela?"

"Clank! Ratchet! Are you guys okay?" The other voice called as the two approached them. At last they both stepped into the light and they could see that it was Angela and Talwyn.

"What in Orvus' Great Clock happened here?!" Talwyn exclaimed when she saw Ratchet lying on the ground, his eyes beginning to slide shut.

"Oh my gosh!" Angela gasped when she saw the Lombax's state.

"Is- is he alright?! What happened?" Talwyn demanded.

"He was shot... He had started to feel sick and tired and he was not able to avoid the gunfire..." Clank answered.

"Oh no... We shouldn't have let him go..." Angela brought her hand up to cover her mouth.

"Ratchet hey, wake up." Talwyn said quietly as she kneeled down next to Ratchet. He didn't stir. "But Clank is he okay?" She worried.

"I do not know..." Clank admitted sadly. "But I fear for him, we must get him back to the ship before we are discovered."

"Oh uh, don't worry about that. We took all the pirates out already, that's why we came to find you guys." Angela told him.

"Alright then." Talwyn agreed standing up and inspecting him worriedly. "Let's get him back to the ship."


End file.
